Emerald Isle Authors

The literary tradition of Ireland, the Emerald Isle, is a long and distinguished one. That tradition continues to flourish through some of the most compelling English-language authors living today. Earn your Emerald Isle Authors badge by reading a contemporary Irish fiction writer.

Being Various, ed. by Lucy Caldwell

Being Various brings together original stories from Ireland’s current golden age of writing with some exciting new voices, never before published.

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Normal People by Sally Rooney

If you’re not already a Sally Rooney fan, you will be after reading this tale of the complex friendship and relationship between two teenagers, Connell and Marianne, who meet in a secondary school in County Sligo, Ireland, and later attend Trinity College Dublin together.

Book / Large Print / Audio eBook

Himself by Jess Kidd

Set in a small town filled with secrets and featuring the return of a mysterious character, Himself is an engrossing mystery, leavened with magic, comedy, eccentric characters, and the power of language.

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Love by Roddy Doyle

Drinking and storytelling: two old friends meet again in a Dublin pub. Reminiscing about past loves, their parents, and themselves through a series of stories—sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, always moving—these men show the many ways they’ve loved.

Book

Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry

Waiting for a family member in a port in Spain, two aging Irish drug-smugglers look back on their lives of violence and betrayal, telling stories with deft humor and turns of phrase.

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Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín

A widow and mother of four, Nora Webster struggles with the loss of the love of her life. Tóibín is a compassionate author, and it shows in this deeply moving story.

Book / Large Print / Audio eBook

Snow by John Banville

Want a suspenseful and beautifully-written murder mystery? This one has it all: a murdered parish priest, an aristocratic family’s country manor house, and a detective inspector summoned to investigate.

Book / eBook / Audio eBook

Solar Bones by Mike McCormack

This stylistically ambitious novel tells the story of the life and death of an engineer in rural Ireland, but also comments on the state of our larger world.

Book / Large Print / eBook / Audio eBook

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

As its title implies, this story spans two continents—and 150 years, as it uses the fictional story of four generations of women to highlight the historical stories of Frederick Douglass, Senator George Mitchell and World War I airmen John Alcock and Teddy Brown.

Book / eBook / CD Audiobook / Audio eBook

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

A miracle has been reported: a girl in a small Irish village has survived for a month without food. But the English nurse who is brought to testify to that miracle instead finds she must fight to save the girl’s life.

Book / eBook / CD Audiobook / Audio eBook